This short article was written for the Painted Tongue Studios blog. More images and info about PTS can be found here. Photos courtesy of Benjamin Chan and Painted Tongue Studios.

I have always been a cynic when it comes to love. Whipping up a batch of Valentines cards in October at Painted Tongue Studios did nothing to change that. . .

Color is essential in portraying emotions and when you couple that with a very loaded word like “love,” you find yourself examining details with a psychological microscope. That icy blue that resulted from a less than clean press seemed too cold, like that one Valentines Day in elementary school when no candy hearts ended up on my desk. Wipe off the ink, clean the press, take two. The next one came out a nauseating baby pink, like the Valentines Day I was hopelessly in love. I just knew I would spend every second of my teenage existence with that certain someone, or maybe that was just the sugar rush from the excess of candy hearts I consumed that year. Wipe, clean, take three. The next one turns out a jealous green, like the Valentines Day when the candy heart I wanted ended up on someone else’s desk. Wipe, clean, take four. This time I add just the smallest touches of all those past valentines days, and then I dilute it with wisdom, experience and lots of transparent white. Now I get a warm and subtle color, not too imposing. That one is just right.